07 July 2010

a quick update

We met for the first time today with Dr J, the OB that we were referred to by our midwives and doula. And the concensus is ...

Two big fat THUMBS UP!!

We absolutely loved her, and are confident that without directly being in the care of midwives, this is as close to midwife care as we could expect to get from a doctor. She is incredibly straightforward, personable, and has a good sense of humor. She's thorough and likes to be uber-prepared. She assured us that we can have whatever kind of labor and delivery that we want, and that we're free to change our minds at any point in the process. She doesn't believe in cutting episiotomies (yay!!), or intervening unnecessarily to "speed things along", stating that when she went into this profession, she understood that she'd be having long nights and forfeiting sleep. Her "line" when it comes to interventions is when she determines that mother and/or baby are in any kind of trouble.

I like that line.

She also listened to Ewan's heartbeat. She explained to us that "Tet babies" tend to do quite well and tolerate labor and delivery much like any other baby. With the way circulation and everything works in the womb, it actually works really well with the defects he has. It was reassuring to hear this. She also checked his heart rate which was in the very healthy 140-150s range.

Under the circumstances, we feel incredibly blessed that there is a doctor like her who is willing to take on the care for the three of us. We will see her again in two weeks for another check-up.

In other news, I have my glucose tolerance test today with our midwives (today really is all about the baby). Given the particular focus both James and I have had lately on healthy eating (e.g., whole grains, no flour, no added sugars, fresh veggies, lean protein, etc.) and exercise, James is particularly interested in seeing how it is for me getting 50 grams of highly concentrated liquid glucose down my gullet. I expect things should go smoothly in this department as well, but chugging orange-flavored syrup ...

Ugh.

5 comments:

Nadine said...

eeek, I'm not looking forward to that one. 6 more weeks, lol.
I'm so glad everything seems to be going great with the Doctor! Yay! :0)

Jill said...

oh the orange syrup....it burned my throat going down....awful! when I was pregnant with my first, they had cola flavored, and it was actually quite good! I don't know why they did away with it....who likes orange flavor anyways?!

I'm so glad you like your new OB. it's so good to have someone you trust in the midst of it all!

Unknown said...

So glad to hear that your meeting went well! Having the right people on your team makes all the difference.

How'd the glucose test go? I kinda liked the orange stuff.. I know, sick :)

Shay said...

I love that God has blessed you with this incredible doctor!!! :) you all are in good hands! how was the glucose test?

you all are continually in my prayers! hugs to you all!

kirsten said...

Thanks for celebrating with us, everyone!! We honestly couldn't be happier with Dr. J and that's a very, very good place to be in.

I'll find out the results of the glucose text next week. And drinking the orange stuff really wasn't that bad. I'm not big on sweets, but it really wasn't at all awful. Of course, I've had to ingest some pretty nasty stuff (and more of it) for medical tests in the past, so this was a walk in the park in comparison. ;o)